Hand guard for hacksaw operators



A. E. LORCH HAND GUARD FOR HACKSAW OPERATORS Filed Dec. 11, 1958 \WZZEVZ5 57 02 a O r Nov. 21, 1961 atent 3,009,497 Patented Nov. 21, 19613,009,497 HAND GUARD FOR HACKSAW PERATOR Allen E. Lurch, 5120 LincolnAve., Los Angeles, Calif. Filed Dec. 11, 1958, Ser. No. 779,681 7Claims. (Cl. 145-35) This invention relates to a hand guard for hacksawoperators, and more particularly to a guard which is flexible andaffords over all protection to the hand of the operator.

A workman in this :art is well aware of the hazards encountered whilemanipulating a hacksaw in sawing a piece of work being operated on. Notonly is he likely to sustain harmful injury from the breaking of a sawblade, but also from a jab with the sawed 011 end of the work whenunexpectedly completing a saw cut.

One of the more important objects of the present invention is to providea flexible guard of tough sheet material for enveloping both the handleof a hacksaw and the operators hand to shield his hand both in advanceand below while within a pocket afforded by the guard and grasping thesaw handle during a sawing operation.

Additional objects of importance are to provide the guard with improvedappendages to hold it in place on a hacksaw, to assist in the formationof the aforementioned pocket, and to secure the device againstlongitudinal displacement while reciprocating it, while at the same timemaintaining the handle and adjacent part of the saw frame in an encasedrelation to the device.

A further important object is to provide an improvement in devices ofthe kind to which this invention pertains, which embodies a new,different and superior mode of combining a hand guard with the handleand adjacent frame portion of a hacksaw.

Yet a further object is to provide an article of manufacture for theaforesaid uses which is simpler, easier to apply and capable of beingmanufactured at a lower cost.

Other objects, advantages and features of invention will hereinafterappear.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, wherein is illustrated apreferred embodiment of the invention as now reduced to practice,

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of my improvement applied to therear end portion of a hacksaw and enclosing the handle thereof.

FIG. 2 is a top plan View of the applied guard with the forward portionof the hacksaw broken away.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary detail showing, mostly in side elevation, thewraparound appendage embracing the Vertical, rear frame member of thehacksaw.

FIG. 4 is a section on zig-zag line 4-4 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view of the extended device, per se, the outerend portion of one of the appendages thereof being angularly deflectedand shown edgewise to contract the view.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the extended device as viewed inFIG. 5 comprises a symmetrical, trapezoidally shaped guard of sheetmaterial having a body portion 5, parallel sides 6 and 7 and divergingsides 8 and 9. The corners 1t) connecting the longer parallel side tothe diverging sides are shown more rounded than the corners 11connecting the shorter parallel side of the figure to each divergentside.

The body portion of the device may consist of leather or of aleather-like substance, or it may be constructed of canvas. It should betough and somewhat stiff, yet sufficiently flexible so that it can beflexed along a line extending longitudinally over its central portion,and bisecting its parallel sides.

Proximal to the side 6 and bisecting the line of flexion aforementionedis situated an eyelet 12 surrounded by a reinforcing band 12a throughwhich, in practice, is extended the unthreaded end of a tensioning rod13 of a hacksaw l4. Said rod is detachably connected to a hacksaw blade15, and said band 12a is secured to the guard 5 by rivets 12b.

A tensioning wing nut .16 is adjustably connected to the threaded endportion of rod 13 to tension the blade 15 through the medium of aholding pin 17, which extends at a right angle to said blade, throughthe rod 13 and engages a hole in said blade.

The divergent sides 8 and 9 of the trapezoid, when flexed backwardlytoward each other as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 5, may be said toconstitute wings or flaps 18 and 19 designated only in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3,to form sides of a pocket 20 a greater depth than width into which thehand of an operator can be projected to grasp the encased handle 21 ofthe hacksaw to manipulate the latter during a sawing operation, and beprotected by the guard against the already mentioned hazards.

The front side edge and fore front top edge of the pocket are broughtinto juxtaposition by the use of the appendages aforementioned, whichwill now he described in detail.

Proximal to the boundary of the longer parallel side 6 of the trapezoidare two spaced apart pairs or combinations of appendages consisting, forexample, of straps and buckles for detachably securing the device, inco-operation with the eyelet 12, to the hacksaw frame in an envelopingrelation to the handle 21.

One combination of straps comprises a tensioning strap 26 provided witha plurality of holes 28 and an anchoring or buckle strap 29 providedwith a buckle 30 and including a keeper.

The other combination of straps similarly consists of a tensioning strap32 provided with a plurality of holes 33 and an anchoring or bucklestrap 34 provided with a buckle 35 and including a keeper. When theguard is mounted upon a hacksaw each combination of straps, or of otherattaching connections will be located along a side of the flexed sheetso that a pair or set of attaching connections of one combination willbe in alinement with the other combination for securement thereto.

Each of said combinations of tension and buckle straps are arranged at aright angle and in a contiguous relation with one another so that, inthe operative position of the guard upon the hacksaw, the tensioningstrap 26 of the first combination will engage the buckle 35 of theanchoring strip 34 of the second combination; and the tensioning strap32 of the second combination will engage the buckle 3d of the anchoringstrap 29 of the first combination. The tension strap 26 of the firstcombination is tautly secured to the buckle 35 when it has been threadedtherethrough and has the buckle tongue engaging the proper hole of theholes 28 in the strap. Finally each combination of tension and bucklestrap is fastened to the body portion 5 by means of a plurality offasteners 37 and 3 38, the fasteners 38 being common to both a tensionand an anchoring strap.

Strap 32 of the second combination has a novel and peculiar fastening tothe rear, vertical frame member 4-6 of the hacksaw frame before it isbuckled to the buckle 30 of the first combination. This peculiarfastening is best shown in FIG. 3, where it will be seen that thetensioning strap 32 is first wound around the vertical, rear framemember 40 before it is threaded through the buckle 3t) and has thebuckle tongue engaged with the proper hole 33 tautly to secure the strap32 to the buckle.

Owing to the fact that the tensioning strap 32 of the second combinationconstitutes a wrap-around strap for the vertical frame member 40, toaccomplish its purpose it is necessarily made longer than the tensioningstrap 26.

In its broader aspect the invention, in regard to the attaching meansfor the guard sheet, may be said to comprise two anchor connections andtwo tensioning connections, one of said tensioning connectionsco-operating with one of said anchor connections to secure the device tothe frame of a hacksaw, and the other of said tensioning connectionsco-operating with the other anchor connection to form in the device apocket for the hand of the operator.

In attaching the device to the hacksaw frame the wing nut 16 is loosenedon the tensioning rod 13, thus permitting the rear end of the saw bladeto be detached from the holding pin 17. The end of the tensioning rodbeing thus freed it is threaded through the eyelet 12 of the guard 5.

Next the free end of the saw blade is re-engaged with the holding pin1-7, and the Wing nut 16 is tightened.

The draw strap 32 is then wrapped around the rear, vertical frame member40 (one way being shown as seen in FIG. 3), and secured to the buckle ina tensioned condition as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, to prevent longitudinalmovement of the guard in relation to the handle 21 while the saw isbeing reciprocated.

Next the draw strap 26 is fastened to the buckle securing the guard tothe upper portion of the handle and adjacent part of the hacksaw frame.

By the latter two operations the front side edge of the pocket and topfore front thereof are drawn into close proximity, closing that portionof the pocket and leaving the remaining top edge portion open to beslightly flexed wherethrough to project the hand to enter the pocket andwhile protected grasp the handle.

To remove the guard from the hacksaw a reversal of performance of theoperations just described is necessary.

It will be seen that when the body portion of the guard sheet is flexed,it forms a deep, spacious pocket for the operators hand, one strap ofeach strap combination alining with a strap of the other combination forbuckling thereonto.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purposeof illustration only, and that this invention includes all modificationsand equivalents which come within the scope of the subject matterclaimed.

I claim:

1. A safety guard for hacksaw operators comprising a sheet of flexiblematerial which viewed in its extended position simulates a symmetricallyshaped trapezoidal figure, and two combinations of appendages secured tosaid sheet adjacent the longer parallel side thereof, one appendage ofeach combination being securable to a different appendage of the othercombination when said sheet is bent along a medial line extending acrossits parallel sides to bring opposed edges into juxtaposition forfastening, whereby to maintain the guard in an operative relation to ahacksaw and in a pocket forming relation to its operators hand, saidconnections being located along opposite sides of the flexed sheet sothat a pair or set of appendages of each combination will be inalinement with the other combination for securement therewith.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a guard comprising a sheet offlexible material which is trapezoidally shaped when viewed in itsextended position and which is bendable along a medial line extendingacross its parallel sides, and a combination of appendages secured toeach of opposite sides of said sheet adjacent to the longer parallelside thereof equidistantly at each side of said medial line, theappendages of each combination comprising two straps, one strap of eachcombination being securable to a different strap of the othercombination when said sheet is flexed along said medial line to bringthe latter straps into alignment for fastening.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a polygonally shaped sheet offlexible material having two parallel sides of different lengths, twodivergently opposed sides, and two combinations of appendages comprisinga plural number each secured in a superposed relation and having acommon fastening means attaching each combination to said sheetsequidistantly at each side of a medial line extending across itsparallel sides and proximal to the longer of said two parallel sides,one appendage of one combination becoming alignable with a differentappendage of the other combination when said sheet is flexed about saidmedial line to bring its opposed side edges into juxtaposition forfastening by the appendages thus aligned.

4. A safety guard for protecting the hand of an operator whileperforming a tooling operation, comprising a symmetrically shaped,four-sided sheet of flexible material, two sides of which are paralleland of diflerent lengths and two sides of which are divergent and of thesame length, two combinations of angularly extending appendages eachcomprising two members secured together and to said sheet at each, sideof and equidistant from a medial line extending across the parallelsides of said sheet and proximal to the longer parallel side thereof,one appendage of one combination being adapted to be attached to adifferent appendage of the other combination when said sheet is flexedabout said medial line incident to attaching said appendages, eachcombination of two appendages consisting of a tensioning strap and abuckling strap, the tensioning strap of one combination being longerthan the tensioning strap of the other combination, said longertensioning strap being adapted to be wrapped around a frame member of anoperators tool prior to its attachment to a buckling strap, and aneyelet in said sheet adjacent said longer parallel side, andsubstantially equidistant between the divergent sides thereof, saideyelet being in a position to receive a tensioning rod of a hacksawblade when the guard is in its mounted position on a hacksaw, in whichposition the guard forms a pocket enclosing the operators hand.

5. In a safety guard for the operator of a hacksaw having a handleportion with a vertical member, a body portion of flexible sheetmaterial which is bendable along its mid-width so as to bring opposededges of said sheet material into juxtaposition for fastening in aposition wherein it will form a pocket with a wing at each side, saidpocket being adapted to enclose between said wings the hand of a workmangrasping the hacksaw handle, and means for attaching said guard to thehandle portion of a hacksaw, said means including an elongated flexibleconnection having one of its end portions attached to a side portion ofone of said wings, and a member carried by a side portion of the otherof said wings to which the free end of said connection is attachable ina tensioned manner with the mid-length portion of said connectionwrapped completely around the aforesaid vertical member of the handleportion of the hacksaw.

6. The subject matter of claim 5, and in the mounted guard said wingsbeing separable along their top edges to facilitate inserting theoperators hand between them.

7. In a safety guard for the operator of a hacksaw having a handleportion with a vertical member, a body portion of flexible sheetmaterial bendable along its midwidth so as to bring opposed edges of thesheet into juxtaposition for fastening in a position wherein it willform a pocket with a wing at each side, said pocket being adapted toenclose between said wings the hand of a workman grasping the hacksawhandle, means for attaching said guard to the handle portion of ahacksaw, said means including an elongated flexible connection havingone of its end portions attached to a side portion of one of said wings,a member carried by a side portion of the other of said wings to whichthe free end of said connection is attachable with the mid-lengthportion of said connection engaging the aforesaid vertical member of thehandle portion of the hacksaw, and an eyelet in the front end portion ofthe mounted guard extending through the mid-width portion thereof in aposition to receive the tensioning rod of the hacksaw.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,078,821 Biggs Nov. 18, 1913 2,660,974 Swain Dec. 1, 1953 2,683,878Davila July 20, 1954 2,832,074 Wheeler Apr. 29, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS184,753 Switzerland Aug. 17, 1936

